Good evening High Desert Families, this is your Monday Message for the week of March 30th.

All students should have received communication from their teacher regarding the next phase of Distance Learning. If you have not, please email me so that we can ensure you receive all communication. Remember that this new instruction is not meant to fill the entire day. Please use your teacher’s recommended pacing guide to help with when and how long assignments should take.

If you are hearing this message, and not receiving it by email, please let us know. There may be links in this message that you will need to access. I am also posting messages on our school website and our High Desert Parents page. Please be sure to check your SPAM box also, as sometimes good mail gets sent there.

If you are still in need of a device to access instruction and did not request one through the survey, please email me as soon as possible. The final day to pick up a Chromebook will be tomorrow, Tuesday, March 31st  between 9:00-11:00 am at the district office bus loop. Chromebooks will only be issued to students that are on the list. There are no walk-up requests. Just a reminder that you can access all materials on any device, such as a laptop or tablet. Your device does not need to be a Chromebook. Thank you so much for all of your cooperation in making the Chromebook pick-up process go so smoothly today.

This Friday, High Desert ASB would like to have a Spirit Day. How will we do this, you ask? Well, wear your High Desert spirit wear or wear anything green, black or white and take a picture. Click on the link to upload your picture or video to our grid. Let's show our school spirit and pride and support each other. Remember, High Desert students rock! 

Here is the link to upload your picture:

https://flipgrid.com/c66df138

I hope you are all continuing to stay safe and enjoying this extended time with your families. Have a good evening and thank you for listening

Tomorrow we are excited to kick off our first day of distance learning.
I am very proud of our students and parents. I appreciate everyone's patience and flexibility. Our teachers have worked very hard this past week to prepare distance learning lessons. We are here to support you through this challenging time and ensure your child's education continues.
#aadusdstaygold #actonschooldistrict #aadusd #firesidechat

Mr. Larry King

AADUSD Superintendent

Please click the link below to see the video.

https://youtu.be/S28sFaVZPMA

Good evening High Desert Families. This is a special message about Distance Learning.

Our teachers have been working hard preparing lessons and activities for their students to begin Distance Learning. Please watch for communication via e-mail or Google Classroom from your child’s teacher for directions and information on what this looks like. Again, we completely understand that this is a new educational format for many families. Please reach out to your teacher if you need any clarification or further directions. All of our teachers have office hours where they can be contacted and parents and students can speak directly with their teacher. These hours and days vary by teacher so please read the communication from your child’s teacher. 

Students now have the ability to take AR tests at home. Students should already have their login information and should know how to access this website. 

If you requested a Chromebook for your child, they will be available for pick at the district office in the bus lane, on Monday at 8:30 am to 12:00 pm. Only families who requested Chromebooks through the survey will be assigned a Chromebook. Please follow these directions for pickup:

Do not come if you are sick or are feeling sick

Remain in your car and form a line in the bus lane

Do not get out of your car, this is a drive-through pick up

Please bring your own pen to sign the Acceptable Use Agreement form 

If you have difficulty accessing WiFi around your home and you have checked out a district Chromebook, WiFi is available at Meadowlark, High Desert, and Vasquez High School. The gates will be open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 8:00 am until 2:30 pm for wifi access. For High Desert, please park in the bus loop or in the parking lot on the side closest to the office for the strongest signal. 

Again, we thank you very much for your patience and understanding as we begin this new process. We are all working hard to do our best to ensure our students continue learning. Please encourage your child to work on their assignments, but also take time to enjoy the extended family time. We wish you all well and will continue to update you as we receive information. 

Together with your child, please enjoy this fun video created by HDS Teachers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuFxkWeni1I&t=63s

Have a good evening and thank you for listening.

Good evening High Desert Families. This is a special message about Distance Learning.

Your teachers have been working hard on planning and creating lessons for our kids. I understand the concern that some of you may feel because your child is not learning in a traditional format. Under the circumstances, it is not possible to create an educational format that resembles what we used to have. All of you, as parents, might be working from home for your regular job, cooking meals, cleaning and caring for one or more children. These are all facets of life that our teachers are taking into consideration when developing instructional lessons for our students. Please know that there will not be an expectation for our parents to do step-by-step lessons that fill every minute of the school day. There will be a lot of thought and consideration during the creation of our Distance Learning and the reality of what our parents and students can access and complete. This is an unprecedented time, where we can also take advantage of “natural” learning experiences. Experiences such as playing games. All kinds of games such as board games, outdoor games, indoor games, even pretend games! Cooking and baking with your kids is not only fun, but exposes them to a lot of math and language skills. Arts and crafts develop a different side of your brain and boosts creativity in kids. Dancing and singing are also fun outlets for releasing energy, teaching rhythm and coordination and are just fun to do! Teachers are excited to include these experiences in their Distance Learning schedules because these are activities that teachers don’t always have time for during the traditional school day. 

In order to provide equal access, the district will be sending out a survey asking parents about the technology that is available in your homes. Please complete the survey as soon as possible and no later than Friday, March 27th at 4:00pm. The survey can also be found in the following link:

https://forms.gle/AkEeU4Tki2cWxyFe9

Again, we thank you for your patience and understanding as we move towards ensuring our students continue to learn. Further details will be available from each grade level and/or teacher when Distance Learning is pushed out to all of our students. Please make sure the school has your most updated email address and contact information.

Thank you for listening and have a good evening. 

Pandemic Independent Study Materials for Students by Grade Level

Good evening. This is Mr. King, superintendent of the AADUSD.  I want you to know that my heart goes out to each and every one of you.  Some of you are being affected financially because of layoffs or not being compensated while your place of work or business is non-operational.  Some of you are having daycare issues, which I will speak about shortly. I walk through empty classrooms and schools and I miss our students tremendously.  I know many of our students miss seeing their friends and teachers. We will get through this. I promise. We are here for all of you. My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who have been affected by the coronavirus.

At this time I would like to inform you that we are in alignment and in agreement with the recommendation of our County Superintendent, Dr. Debra Duardo.  Dr. Duardo has recommended that LA County schools remain closed through Tuesday, May 5, 2020. We have composed a team made up of representatives from our teacher association, classified school employee association, and administrators.  I will be updating this group each week as many times as needed to ensure we have solid plans in place as we have done this past week and a half.

Sunny Days childcare will be in operation beginning Monday, March 23, 2020.  There are specific guidelines that childcare facilities must adhere to during this time.  Please refer to our website for further information. Additionally, we have provided meals to anyone who is under 18 years of age.  This information can be found on our website as well.  

I would like to give a very special thank you to our Distance Learning Instructional Team.  This team is composed of administrators and teachers. They have done an absolutely amazing job of evaluating, recommending, and providing online resources for learning as well as packets that were available for pick up this week.  I will be taking recommendations from this team to ensure our students have every opportunity to learn at home. We are having discussions about video conferencing, “office hours” for teachers, and virtual staff meetings, for example.  

I will be preparing further communication this weekend with the use of video technology.  As soon as that is available the links will be posted on our website and social media accounts.  We will continue to conduct business such as board meetings, payroll, food services, and instruction so students may continue to learn and grow.  Please know that on behalf of Board President Mr. Ken Pfalzgraf and all of our Board Trustees care deeply about our students and their families. We will continue to do everything possible to put their health and safety first.  I will continue to provide community updates each week. Please be safe and have a good evening.